The Green Valley community's African-American roots predate the Civil War.
Bordered today by the Army-Navy Country Club (East), South 16th Road (North), Four Mile Run (South), and South Walter Reed Drive (West), the neighborhood of Green Valley was home to free blacks like Levi and Sarah Ann Jones as early as the 1840s. These early residents bought land, built homes and sometimes found neighbors by selling excess portions of their lots.
The 20th century brought a surge in growth, when an influx of formerly enslaved people arrived after the federal government shuttered nearby Freedman’s Village. Faced with encroaching segregation, residents became self-sustaining.
Entrepreneurs, educators, religious leaders, health workers and other professionals established an array of resilient neighborhood institutions, several of which still survive.
Green Valley Pharmacy, date unknown.
Green Valley Stories
Drawn from the Community Archives at the Charlie Clark Center for Local History, these are just some of the stories of Green Valley and its residents.
The Center for Local History (CLH) collects, preserves, and shares historical documents that tell the history of Arlington County, its citizens, organizations, businesses, and social issues.
